Red Bull and Ferrari to modify test plans

Red Bull and Ferrari have decided to modify their plans for the third and final pre-season test in Barcelona next month, with both teams deciding to start their testing a day later than the rest of the field.

The final pre-season test was originally planned to take place on March 1-4, however Ferrari decided to change their plans and join the test a day later, from March 2nd to March 5th. Red Bull asked the Italian outfit if they could join them, and Ferrari agreed. This means Ferrari and Red Bull will start testing a day later compared to the rest of the field, however they’ll continue testing into Monday, a day after the other teams have finished.

“We have decided to join Ferrari in running from Friday to Monday as opposed to Thursday to Sunday. We’re just moving it a day,” Explained Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner to Autosport. “From a logistical perspective, it just made a bit more sense. We asked Ferrari if we could join them, they agreed. It’s in the test agreement and also within the test regs. We are within the time limit for that. It’s something that we’ve elected to do. Lotus are doing their own thing but that’s for different reasons elsewhere.”

Although Christian Horner is stating it’s for logistical reasons only, it’s bound to raise eyebrows from the other teams, especially other front runners such as McLaren and Mercedes.

In other testing news, Lotus have been given the green light to commence an extra day of running at the third and final pre-season test next week. This comes after the Enstone based outfit pulled out of this weeks test due to chassis woes. The issue has been rumored to have been related to the front suspension, with Lotus confident they have corrected the problem.